About depression

Here is what I have to say to you if you are diagnosed with depression.

The first step out of depression is to open your heart and your mind and decide that you choose life and not death. Nobody can do this step for you.

“The core symptom of depression is said to be anhedonia, which refers to loss of interest or a loss of feeling of pleasure in certain activities that usually bring joy to people.” – (Gilbert P (2007). Psychotherapy and counselling for depression (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage. ISBN 978-1849203494. OCLC 436076587, via Wikipedia)

Medical treatment can bring relieve –and might help you survive– but is not the solution.

After watching ShortFilmUnspoken I have two reactions:

First observation, the protagonist lives in an insane environment where adult people are being asked “Are you okay?” when they make children laugh. I believe that depression is actually a sign of emotional intelligence, a sane reaction to an insane environment. See your depression as your unique way of reacting to this world. Embrace it. Accept it. Read this: Is Depression Actually a Unique State of Consciousness?

My second reaction: Yes, feel free to imagine your suicide. Imagine it as intensively as needed, but be careful to not actually do anything that might harm you physically.

Also realize that if the belief in eternal life happens to be true, suicide would cause you to be depressive for eternity. You don’t want that. Don’t tell me that you do. Living in depression is hard, fighting against it is harder, but suffering a whole life is still much better than suffering eternally. You don’t want to die in depression. Suicide is not a realistic solution. It won’t fix your problem.

Learn the following prayer by heart and repeat it whenever you find yourself thinking about your problem:

God, if you exist, then help me.
Because I have no hope,
no clue how to get out of this.
No human can help me.
You alone can help me.

You can join the Pope’s prayer for people with depression:

Here is another recommended read: “Making negative interpretations is not dysfunctional; what is dysfunctional is a lack of flexibility in information processing.” – To Overcome Depression, Think Flexibly, Not Positively. Yes, “interpretation flexibility” is an important emotional skill. Try to work on this.

Did you know?